The Jewish Museum London collection contains 30,000 objects includes both Judaica which has been assigned designated national importance status and social history items reflecting everyday home and working life.
The original Jewish Museum built its collection based on Religious items reflecting both the private and public sphere, with equal historical importance and artistic merit. This was enhanced following the merger with the Museum of Jewish Life with objects of social and working history, documents and oral histories charting the many stories and experiences of British Jewish life from medieval to modern day. The collection also includes over 2000 portraits, etchings, cartoons and posters built around a collection assembled by one of the Museum’s founders, Alfred Rubens. This is alongside our photographic archive which reflects the diversity of the wider Jewish community and provides an insight into early 20th century life, loves and labours.
Specific collections include the Greenman archive; a poignant collection centred on the life of Leon Greenman OBE, whose experiences and campaigning against racism offers hope and reflection.
Over the coming years we will continue to add to our collections online as well as build the collection itself, focusing on inclusivity and representation. We will continue to tell the continuous story of Jewish Britain right up to the present showcasing British Jewishness in all its guises
